Wrestling with Physics
by Niss Trah
Summary: In the aftermath of Children of the Gods, Captain Carter remembers with horror her words in the briefing. She is surprised by the reaction. S/J


Author's note: Hello again! I have arrived on the fanfiction scene a little late, but I thought after writing a little tag for a season 7 episode, I would start at the beginning. I think I will be doing a few stories for each season. As I am kind of a die hard SamJack shipper, most of them will probably a least hint (or more than hint :) at the slowly developing feelings there, but will also have hearty doses of Daniel, Teal'c and other favorites! Thanks for reading and for all the great reviews for my previous story!

**Wrestling with Physics**

Just a little tag to the Season 1 Pilot: Children of the Gods

As she finished unpacking her boxes that were brought in from the Pentagon, Captain Samantha Carter thought over the last few days of her life. She had just returned with the newly formed SG-1 from their first mission. The alien, Teal'c was being held on the base for questioning, and she knew that Colonel O'Neill was probably already raising hell for Teal'c not being treated as an ally. Doctor Jackson, she thought, was rummaging around in his new office, trying to find out where Teal'c and his people had originated on Earth. Sam shivered a bit as she thought of the larval Goa'uld inside the Jaffa's stomach. _It's weird that his ancestors are from Earth. I wonder if he thinks we're as strange as we find him. _She shook off her thoughts of the large alien and thought of her teammates. _Doctor Jackson seems like a nice enough guy. He is keeping his cool even though his wife has been taken by those nut jobs. __He's smart too, and funny. I think I will like working with him. _Sam smiled as she remembered Doctor Jackson showing them the room on Abydos with the map of Stargates. He had been like a kid in a candy store and as they began theorizing about stellar drift and finding the planets with Stargates, she could almost feel Colonel O'Neill and Major Kawalsky's eyes glaze over.

As she thought of Kawalsky, she immediately pictured the briefing room when she had first come on base. The men in the room had all been in obvious shock when a woman walked in. She chuckled as she pictured the look on Colonel O'Neill's face. He had been surprised and a bit annoyed, but there had been something there that she couldn't name and wondered again about it now. When she still couldn't put her finger on it, she shrugged and crushed down a now empty box and threw it in the growing stack near the door. _Well, hopefully, that look didn't mean anything bad. He seems like a fair enough commanding officer, nicer so far than my last one. At least O'Neill doesn't treat me like 'the little woman' who needs to prove herself. He seems to honestly believe now that I can do this! _These thoughts reassured her as she reminisced about the briefing and she was still chuckling quietly to herself when it suddenly hit her and she stood straight up and clapped one hand over her mouth in shock. _I challenged him to ARM WRESTLING? OH MY GOD! What was I thinking? He must be so angry and was just waiting until this important mission was finished to rip me a new ass. OH GOD! I am such an idiot! Why do you say things like that Samantha? _Sam ran a frustrated hand through her hair and curled it into a fist. She spun around and slammed her fist down onto the metal table in the lab.

"Whoa, Captain! Something wrong with your new digs, or do you just periodically hit things? If you do, warn a guy so I can get out of the line of fire, huh?"

Sam spun around in shock at the sudden voice. She stood and gaped at none other than Colonel Jack O'Neill, standing just inside the door to her lab, hands shoved into his pockets and rocking back nonchalantly onto his heels. She sucked in a breath and snapped her open jaw shut. As she continued to stare in shock at him and said nothing, he came off his heels, took one hand out of a pocket and waved it nervously in front of his body. "Ahhh, Captain Carter, y'ok there?" His eyes darted around, seemingly looking for something that had her so frozen and found nothing. As she watched his hand fidgeting in midair and realized he had asked her a question, her brain snapped back on.

"Colonel! Ahh, hello Sir. I'm sorry Sir, you just ahh, startled me. Sorry Sir." She shrugged and looked at him, hoping he'd let the weird moment pass, but knowing he might not, having already witnessed a somewhat wicked sense of humor from the man. "Umm, did you say something to me; I think I may have missed it if you did Sir." She smiled what she hoped was a confident smile and hoped with everything in her he wasn't here to ream her out for the arm wrestling thing. Her already hesitant smile began to slip when he just kept looking at her in confusion. She wanted to ask him if he was alright, but when she opened her mouth, what came out was entirely different. "Sir? I ah, was actually hoping to get the chance to talk to you. I wanted to apologize for the completely inappropriate comments I made in the briefing room when we met. And for challenging you to an arm wrestle. It was unprofessional and I hope you won't hold it against me. I was actually a bit nervous in that briefing and I did not intend to insult you or any of the other men in attendance by implying that I know more than any of you do about travelling by Stargate simply because I understand the physics behind it and furthermore, I'd like to apologize for holding us up at the gate to gaze in fascination at the event horizon. I mean, it's true that the odds of the gate creating a stable wormhole ARE astronomical and that the huge amount of power the Stargate requires in order to stay active will probably cost billi…"

"WHOA! Ha-la-la-la-la" Sam trailed off as her commanding officer interrupted, placed his fingers into his ears, closed his eyes and hummed loudly. As he opened his eyes and saw that she had stopped talking, he unplugged his ears. Sam snapped her gaping mouth shut once again and tilted her head in question at him.

"Ya lost me at astronomical Captain. And you don't need to apologize, I found our briefing quite refreshing from other mundane and well…STIFF briefings I have had the unfortunate pleasure of being in" his nose wrinkled as he spoke and he shook his head as he spoke. "And I fully intend to take you up on that arm wrestling challenge one day. And I'm quite confident that you'll give me a run for my money, won't you?" He raised his eyebrows at her in his own challenge and she grinned.

"Absolutely, Sir!"

"Good! Keep that attitude the way it is. I like guts in my officers, not whiny little plebes who don't know how to take initiative. As for me…erm…helping you through the Stargate? I only did so because I had no flippin' idea what you were yammering about. Not because you were holding us up. I don't speak geek." At her furrowed brow, he hastened to add, "Not that you're a geek Captain…well you are a geek. But in a good way. Err, yeah. So, we're all good here Captain. Nice work out there. I think you really put Kawalsky in his place, which was great fun for me!" The Colonel clapped on awkward hand on her shoulder and stuffed his hands back in his pockets. He continued his rocking back and forth on his heels and shrugged.

"Wonder what's for dinner in this joint. See ya later Captain." At this he turned and loped off down the hall. Sam stood in shock at the conversation she had just had with the man. He was, by far the strangest and most casual commander she had ever had. _And he is sort of cute when he's rambling….I MEAN! Oh crap. Samantha Carter. Get a grip! Colonel O'Neill is NOT cute! Although I wouldn't mind running my hands through that unruly hair of his, it's probably insanely soft. _Sam rolled her eyes in exasperation at her traitorous thoughts and attacked another box with renewed vigor, banishing any more ridiculous thought about her new boss from her mind.


End file.
